Template programs, welcome to the world of nutrition shortcuts and scams to take money from you with ZERO concern whether it works or not. I see it happen time and time again, so I’m here today to set the word straight that you will have LESS results paying for 3 months of a template program over paying for 1 month of actual nutritional coaching.
Now you may be asking what a “template nutrition program “ is, or how to tell what differentiates that from an actual “nutritional coaching program.” It’s quite simple:
- You input minimal info into an online calculator or are asked for minimal info in regards to your plan.
- You don’t actually have any communication with a real human being (or maybe you do)
- You are given minimal to no direction on why you are eating what you are, or how to eat it
- It’s CHEAP ($50 or so?)
We’ve all done it on MyFitnessPal or one of the other apps that claim to be able to provide you with proper nutrition while knowing NOTHING about you as a human, your life, or what you have/are currently doing. It just cannot simply work like that, and I will give you 3 reasons why (I have about 10)
Nobody knows who/what this “calculator” is using as its baseline to spit out numbers.
This is CRUCIAL, because lets face it, you are 100% NOT the same as anyone else in this world. Mentally, physically, emotionally, physiologically, etc. (I could go all day). So how on earth can we trust giving someone height/weight/age and expect it to predict an accurate caloric intake for you, knowing absolutely nothing about your body type/muscle mass/metabolism/food habits (once again, I could go all day). Take this for instance:
I am a 28 year old 6’ 195# athletic dude who has worked out most of his life and has trained his metabolism OVER TIME to consume mass amounts of food. Does that mean another 28 year old 6’ 195# dude who has done the exact opposite his entire life be given the same plan as me? In either instance, that “template” plan is going to prescribe either a ton of food (which may work for me), but if homeboy gets the same #s as me (and his goal is to lose weight), that dude is going to GAIN WEIGHT! Vice versa, if the plan calls for “X” amount of food that could maybe be OK for subject B, it’s going to put me at a deficit and wreck my metabolism/endanger hormone profiles/tank cortisol/ruin performance/make me feel like shit (want me to keep going?)
If your answer is yes, you must be a template coach and you can throw yourself out a window
This template does not know your life
Lets be real honest here and address the life we live here in America. It is literally NON STOP on the go (work/kids, etc.), high stress, lack of sleep, so how in the world are you going to have time to eat your food? Well, I’ll tell you one thing, a template program isn’t going to help you with that.
Little do most know, there is specific timing that can be addressed around workouts to improve performance/recovery/energy/mood. Template programs won’t help with that. But this goes for everything in life, learning how to plan around the craziness that is stopping you from having success.
They have no idea how much you are currently consuming
This may be the most important factor in creating a food plan for someone, and is the #1 most overlooked factor. REGARDLESS of what you “should” be eating, it really plays a very small roll in the actual process of developing a plan.
9 times out of 10 your client comes to you and is heavily undereating. Most common trends are total daily protein intake is WAY too low, fat is WAY too high, and carbs bounce around as much as a bouncy ball thrown around in an enclosed room.
SO, if we take our little test subjects again and see that Jill is currently eating a total of 1200 calories per day but is looking to lose some pounds for her family vacation to Hawaii this summer. So she goes to her lovely template calculator (that has no idea what she is eating) and enters her information, and it tells her she “SHOULD” be eating 2200 calories. Well, what do you think will happen when she jumps herself up 1000 calories overnight?
Go ahead, I know your catching onto the trends here……YES, she is going to GAIN WEIGHT. SWEET, now she’s pissed and macro counting doesn’t work and her vacation is ruined…..
WOW, so what have we learned today? Most things out there claiming to be nutrition help is really a scam, and takes nothing into account that ACTUALLY MATTERS. I’m sure sometimes it works just fine, but only for prob 1/100 people and the rest waste their money on a complete gamble.
So what do you do? Who do you call? GHOSTBUSTERS, of course!! No, I’m’ kidding. You need to find a NUTRITION COACH.
What does a nutrition coach do? Do you have 10 minutes to spare? Of course, everyone does if they truly want! So, you should give me a call and I’ll tell you exactly how I can help you CRUSH your goals and keep moving forward. NO TEMPLATES, pure coaching that builds lifelong lasting habits.
– Woolfeman